Container closure fastening means

ABSTRACT

A fastening means for the outwardly opening doors on the end of a box-like refuse container adapted to be transported on a truck back for dumping of refuse material therefrom. In order to prevent injuries to operators of the fastening means during unfastening of the latch on the doors a remote lever arm is provided with an attachment to an eccentrically mounted fastening member capable of latching with a hook means fixed to one of a pair of doors, the fastening member, eccentric and lever means being rotatably mounted to the other of said pair of doors.

United States Patent De Filippi 1451 Nov. 4, 1975 CONTAINER CLOSUREFASTENING 3,464,729 9/1969 Chambers 292/218 MEANS 3,737,183 6/1973Pastva, Jr 292/218 [76] Inventor: gs q gf gzg g i g PrimaryExaminer-Richard E. Moore 22 Filed: Feb. 28, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT [21]Appl. No.: 447,014 A fastening means for the outwardly opening doors onthe end of a box-like refuse container adapted to be [52] U S Cl 292/7292/DIG 292/DIG 49 transported on a truck back for dumping of refuse ma-[51] lrit C1 .2 u EOSC m8 terial therefrom. In order to prevent injuriesto opera [58] Fie'ld 247 1 I3 tors of the fastening means duringunfastening of the latch on the doors a remote lever arm is providedwith an attachment to an eccentrically mounted fastening [56] ReferencesCited member capable of latching with a hook means fixed to one of apair of doors, the fastening member, ec- UNITED STATES PATENTS centricand lever means being rotatably mounted to 1,654,913 1/1928 Beemer292/57 the other of said pair of doors. 2,966,706 1/1961 Christensen292/113 X 3,368,711 2/1968 Dubo 292/247 X 7 Claims, 1'0 Drawing FiguresUS. Patent N0 v.4,1 975 sheet lom 3,917,328

QC Fl US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,917,328

-I an!!! lllll ll U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,917,328

CONTAINER CLOSURE FASTENING MEANS The present invention relates to afastening machanism for securing the doors of a refuse container.

In particular the following specification discloses a latchingarrangement for the pair of outwardly opening doors on the end of abox-like container employed to receive refuse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known that the most convenient methodof storing and containing refuse prior to removal from a factory orbuilding site, is to provide a large box-shaped container at the factoryor site, which can be lifted or tilted onto the back of a truck frame.The container is made of a size similar to a truck box so that it willcompletely fill the rear frame of the truck. The container has variousmeans of securing it to the frame of the truck which carries it away toa dump for deposit therefrom. The container is usually open at the topand has a fixed floor and three side walls. The fourth and end wall isdivided into a pair of outwardly hinged doors secured together in theclosed position by latch means at the top and bottom. At the top of thecontainer the doors are usually latched one to another but at the bottomthe doors are in most cases fixed to the bottom of the container, andsometimes to one another, as well.

The refuse can be deposited into the container over the sides and endsor in the case of heavy material such as scrap metal, by opening thedoors and by placing the refuse object on the bottom floor. It has beenfound, however, that it is a human tendancy to place heavy objects nearto the opening and to throw lighter refuse toward the end fixed wallsuch that when filled, the container will have most of the heavy objectsclose to the doors. The above fact leads to the most unsatisfactoryresult that as the container is lifted onto the truck and during transitto the dump the heavy objects will roll or shift toward the doors andbind against them there. The binding of the refuse against the doorsthereby puts an undue stress upon the latching mechanism. This in turnoften causes great difficulty to the operator when he wishes to unlatchthe doors and dump the refuse. In particular the upper latch posesserious problems. It has been found that operators have been injuredseverly by the necessity of climbing onto the container and straddlingthe load to release the upper latch from above and then falling with theload when the latch gives way. The fact that the usual latch employed tosecure the doors is only releasable by reaching down from the load or upfrom outside has proved most unsatisfactory from a work safetystandpoint and many serious injuries have occurred to operators beingstruck by heavy objects falling from the container as they climbed thedoors to release the top latch.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present inventionto provide a latch fastening means for the outwardly opening doors of arefuse box, that is operable by remote means and that permits release ofthe latch by an operator standing remote from said container. Moreparticularly it is an object of the invention to provide a containerwith a top latch mechanism which is provided with such remote operatingmeans, and is preferably separate from the lower latching means.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a container with asemi-height door, or stable door, divided into upper and lower halves,so that refuse can be thrown into the container more easily.

Latching will also be provided between the upper and lower door halvesso that they may be fastened together and swing in unison.

A refuse-box herein provided comprises a pair of outwardly swingabledoors each having a parallel side adapted to fall substantially flushone with another when said doors are in the enlined and refuse-box,enclosing position. Each door has a bolt and hook means attached to itslower side for engagement with a pin means fixed between the bottom ofsaid refuse-box and an angle plate member fixed to said bottom of saidrefuse-box. A stop plate is fixed to the top inside back edge of onedoor to extend outwardly toward the other door to thereby assist inenlining the two doors one with another when both are in the closedposition.

The pair of abutting'and aligned doors are fastened together at the topby a hook member to the door, being engaged by an eye member that iseccentrically rotatably mounted to a bolt rotatably mounted to the otherdoor. A lever arm is provided to an extention of said bolt in order thatthe eye can be engaged and disengaged by an operator standing in frontof, and below the closed doors.

By being eccentrically mounted to the bolt, the eye of the latch can bepushed outward from the wall of the door simultaneously with a movementout of engagement with the hook, thereby allowing the eye to clear thehook.

The above objects of the invention will be more clearly understood andappreciated from a perusal of the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1, is an end perspective of an open, four-sided refuse containerhaving a pair of outwardly opening doors wherein the bottom latch means,and the top latch means, for the doors are shown in fastened position;

FIG. 2, is an enlarged view of the top latch in closed position;

FIG. 3, is an enlarged view of the top latch in open position;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the rear door and upper latch mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the opening of the latchmechanism;

FIG. 6 shows a further stage of the opening of the latch mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective showing a detail of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view showing one door partly opened;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the lower latching mechanism, and,

FIG. 10 is a perspective of the lower latching mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF A SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT In the FIG. 1, a box-shaped refusecontainer 10, is shown having solid side and end walls 11, 12, and 13and bottom 14 (not shown). A pair of doors 15, 16, enclose end 17, ofthe container. Door 15 is swingable outward by hinges 18, 19,20,attached to side wall 11, and door 16 is swingable outward by hinges 21,22, 23 attached to side wall 12.

An angle plate 24 is attached to and extends downwardly from the bottom14, of the container and two catch pins 25, 26 are attached between theplate 24, and the bottom 14. In this way they are protected from damagecaused by dumped refuse. Lock rods 27, 28 are rotatably mounted to thelower side of doors 15, 16 respectively. Each rod 27, 28 has a lever arm29, 30 respectively attached to it to cause rotational movement. Rods 27and 28 are rotatably mounted in sleeves 31, 32, respectively. Catcher 33and 34 are fastened to respective rods 27, 28 and rotate therewith inunison, into and out of locking engagement with respective pins 25, 26.

When arm 29 is pulled outward from the door 15, the rod 27 turns insleeve 31 releasing catch 33 from catch pin 25, thereby freeing thebottom portion of door 15. Similarly when arm 30, is pulled outward fromdoor 16, the rod 28 turns in sleeve 32, releasing catch 34, from catchpin 26, thereby freeing the bottom portion of door 16. Any suitableretaining means such as the releasable pins 29a and 30a may be providedfor securing the arms 29, 30 as shown The top latch means 35, isoperated by a rod 36 extending downwardly along the outer side of thedoor 15, and rotatable in sleeves 37, 38, and 39. A lever arm 40 isattached to the lower end of rod 36 and is moveable outwardly from restposition in direction of arrow 42 to positions exemplified by position43 in dotted line form, to rotate rod 36.

The'top latch means 35 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2, and 3. Plate 45 isfixed to inside of door to protrude towards door 16 and provides a stopmeans for door 16 to assist in aligning the doors 15 and 16.

A fastening member or eye member 44 is shown in FIGS. 2, and 3 attachedto the upper end of rod 36. It will be seen to be formed by two sickleshaped members 47, 48 spaced apart by two cylindrical pins 49, 50thereby forming the eye 44 of the catch 35. A hook member 46 is attachedto the upper edge of door 16 as shown in alignment with eye 44.

The rod 36 is rotatable in bushing 51 and the eye 44 of catch 35 isrotatably mounted on bolt 36 by pin 52 protruding from the eccentric arm53 fixed to rod 36 proximate its end near bushing 51. When rod 36 isrotated by lever arm 40, the eccentric: arm 53 rotates with it carryingthe eye 44 outward from door 15 and toward door 16.

In FIG. 4, the lever arm 40 is shown in dotdash-line with arrows 54, 55,56 indicating the movement of the arm 40 and eye 44.

The hook member 46 has a curved camming surface 57 proximate the dooredge 58 of door 16.

Assuming the latch 35 is in the locked position as shown in FIGS. 1 and2, the releasing takes place by rotating the rod 36 by swinging arm 40away from door 15. As the rod 36 is rotated it carries the eccentric arm53 and eye 44, toward the hook 46, and causes pin 50 to move out ofengagement with hook 46. Further rotational movement of rod 36 willcause the pin 46 to engage the cam surface 57 and as the pin 49 ridesalong the cam surface 57 of the hook 46 it lifts the eye 44 clear offthe hook and moves holding pin 50 outward from the door 16. The arc ofmovement imparted to the eye 44 by arm 53 initially moves the eye 44outward from the door 16 and as arm 53 is rotated further it draws theeye into contact with the door causing the catch pin 50 to swing furtheraway from the hook 46.

The arm 40 is then swung back to impart reverse rotation to shaft bolt36 and the eye 44 is pulled clear of the hook 46 thereby releasing thetop catch combination. Freeing the doors is completed by releasing thebottom bolts 27, 28, allowing the refuse to be dumped. I

To allow an operator even greater clearance from the opening doors, alength of pipe can be fitted over arm 40, and the lever and shaft boltcombination, can be operated from a position well back from the doors.Closing of the fastening means is achieved by again swinging the arm 40away from door 15. In this case the action is somewhat more rapid andproduces a whipping or wrist action of the eye 44 so that it swingsround into engagement with the hook 44.

is attached across the ends of the upper corners of the sides adjacentthe dumping opening to provide rigidity to the structure as a whole. Thebar or strut prevents from against the ends and the doors, which actionof course defeats the purpose of the doors.

It is therefore, another advantage of the present in- I vention that itprovides a fastening means that has of itself sufficient strength tohold the sides together but will not itself bind tight and beunfastenable when the container is closed, full and in transit. Thefastening means provided herein is rather designed and shaped to utilizethe bulging tendency of the sides to assist the action of the openingoperation.

By eliminating the bar or strut from across the top end of the containerit will be readily appreciated that an obstruction across the dumpingend of the box is removed and over-full loads will empty more easily.

As will be apparent from the drawings the present invention isconstructed of rugged materials with the usual and known skill in theart. However, it is hereby noted that the arm 53 and pin 52, aremachined to a relatively close tolerance for this type of equipmentinorder that the arm 53 and pin 51 interfit snugly and run smoothly onewith another. It is important for the successful remote operation of theclosure means that a smooth and controlled movement of the arm 40 andeye 44 is achieved. The operator of the remote arm 41) the momentum ofthe heavy, and massive eye as it travels toward the hook. The momentumcarries the eye one remote throw or whip of the linkage combination butmost persons can accomplisha latching of hook and eye with two or threethrows. It is necessary for this purpose that the eye portion of thelinkage be relatively massive and the arm 53 and pin 52 be not sloppilyinterfitted,Advantageously the door 16 can be built as a stable typedoor in upper and lower halves 16a and v 16b as shown in FIG. 1. In thiscase a further locking In the commonly used refuse containers a bar orstrut must learn to whip the eye over the hook by utilizing is required.A skilled operator can latch the device with rod 60 and arm 61 isprovided, slidable upwardly and downwardly in sleeves 62. A lockingsleeve 63 is pro vided on door half 16b.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the objects, advantages,construction and operation of the invention will be comprehended bypersons skilled in the art. It is understood that the invention is notto be limited to the precise details and depiction furnished herein, butis to be accorded the full scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. Fastening means for use with a pair of doors hingeably opening awayfrom one another, wherein each of said doors has a hinged side and anoppositely disposed free edge, said free edges meeting when said doorsare closed, said fastening means comprising;

a hook member fixed adjacent to the free edge of one of said pair ofdoors, and directed away from said free edge of said door;

camming surface means between said hook member and the free edge of saiddoor;

rod means rotatably attached adjacent the free edge of the other of saiddoors;

an eye means for engaging said hook member swingably mounted on said rodmeans in registration with said hook member and moveable between hookengaging and disengaging positions;

pin means on said eye means oriented to engage 'said camming surfacemeans for procuring swinging movement of said eye means relative to saidhook means, and,

operating means fixed to said rod means to rotate the same and therebymove said eye means into and out of engagement with said hook member.

2. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said eye meanscomprises an offset arm fixed perpendicularly to said rod means and apair of sickle-shaped members linked together and spaced apart by a pairof pin members to form the hook engaging eye means, one of saidpin-members being rotatably mounted through said arm for rotatablysupporting said sickle members thereon to provide, with said arm,movement of said eye abount said rod means.

3. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container isformed as an open topped box with a fixed bottom and side walls and anopening, and wherein the doors are mounted adjacent the opening, andwherein said hook and eye means are attached toward the upper edges ofsaid doors, and including locking means attached near the lower edges ofeach door, and latch means fixed to said container to cooperate withsaid locking means for fastening the lower edges of said doors.

4. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, having a stop plate protrudingoutwardly from one door toward the other door to provide a means ofaligning the top edges of the doors together;

and having the operating means extendable outwardly from adjacent thelower edge of said the other of said doors to permit remote unhooking ofsaid eye from said hook by an operator without reaching up to the topedge of said container.

5. Fastening means as claimed in claim 3 wherein said lower fasteninglatching means includes locking pin means on said container, andswingable hook members rotatable into and out of engagement therewith,said hook members being operatively connected to said rod means.

6. Fastening means as claimed in claim 3 including one of said doorsincorporating upper and lower door halves, swingable separately from oneanother, and means for locking said door halves together for swinging inunison.

7. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hook means andsaid camming surface are formed as an integral unit, the camming surfacebeing the outer profile and the hook means the inner profile of the samemember, and wherein said eye means comprises a pair of spaced apartsickle-shaped members, and three spaced apart pin members uniting saidsickleshaped members, one said pin member at one end thereof beingrotatably connected to said rod means, another said pin member at theother end thereof engaging the hook means, and the third said pin memberbeing located between the two pin members aforesaid and engaging saidcamming surface as aforesaid.

1. Fastening means for use with a pair of doors hingeably opening away from one another, wherein each of said doors has a hinged side and an oppositely disposed free edge, said free edges meeting when said doors are closed, said fastening means comprising; a hook member fixed adjacent to the free edge of one of said pair of doors, and directed away from said free edge of said door; camming surface means between said hook member and the free edge of said door; rod means rotatably attached adjacent the free edge of the other of said doors; an eye means for engaging said hook member swingably mounted on said rod means in registration with said hook member and moveable between hook engaging and disengaging positions; pin means on said eye means oriented to engage said camming surface means for procuring swinging movement of said eye means relative to said hook means, and, operating means fixed to said rod means to rotate the same and thereby move said eye means into and out of engagement with said hook member.
 2. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said eye means comprises an offset arm fixed perpEndicularly to said rod means and a pair of sickle-shaped members linked together and spaced apart by a pair of pin members to form the hook engaging eye means, one of said pin-members being rotatably mounted through said arm for rotatably supporting said sickle members thereon to provide, with said arm, movement of said eye abount said rod means.
 3. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container is formed as an open topped box with a fixed bottom and side walls and an opening, and wherein the doors are mounted adjacent the opening, and wherein said hook and eye means are attached toward the upper edges of said doors, and including locking means attached near the lower edges of each door, and latch means fixed to said container to cooperate with said locking means for fastening the lower edges of said doors.
 4. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1, having a stop plate protruding outwardly from one door toward the other door to provide a means of aligning the top edges of the doors together; and having the operating means extendable outwardly from adjacent the lower edge of said the other of said doors to permit remote unhooking of said eye from said hook by an operator without reaching up to the top edge of said container.
 5. Fastening means as claimed in claim 3 wherein said lower fastening latching means includes locking pin means on said container, and swingable hook members rotatable into and out of engagement therewith, said hook members being operatively connected to said rod means.
 6. Fastening means as claimed in claim 3 including one of said doors incorporating upper and lower door halves, swingable separately from one another, and means for locking said door halves together for swinging in unison.
 7. Fastening means as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hook means and said camming surface are formed as an integral unit, the camming surface being the outer profile and the hook means the inner profile of the same member, and wherein said eye means comprises a pair of spaced apart sickle-shaped members, and three spaced apart pin members uniting said sickle-shaped members, one said pin member at one end thereof being rotatably connected to said rod means, another said pin member at the other end thereof engaging the hook means, and the third said pin member being located between the two pin members aforesaid and engaging said camming surface as aforesaid. 